Mystery of the Blue Beryl
by BlossomingRosebud
Summary: A brand new mystery for the Cluefinders team! Now teenagers in high school, they go to Europe for a mystery and end up in the middle of a quest for a lost treasure, a massive family feud, and a secret that could threaten Europe itself! Enjoy!
1. The Lady Felicia: Leslie

"I can not thank you kids enough for what you did here. Now that the "sea monster" is gone, my fishing business can flourish once again!"

"Happy to help. After all, we are the Cluefinders; it's what we do!"

"Awesome. Hey, is there any place we can find some fish pizza for lunch? I'm starving!"

Meanwhile, as the Cluefinder crew celebrated their latest case solved, a mysterious man and woman watched them from the second floor of the inn nearby.

"You see what I mean?" the woman asked the man.

"Yes," he answered. "They are quite an intriguing young bunch. I believe they would be perfect for the case."

"When do you think we can get them to Italy?"

"Patience, my dear friend. We must wait until the time is right; then everything can fall into place."

"Of course. But how will we get their interest, once they are in the right place?"

"Oh, believe me. They will find it on their own accord. After all, I am sure that a mystery like this will be simply irresistible for youngsters as curious as they."

_5 years later…_

"Leslie, take a look at this landscape!"

"Yes, it truly is an exquisite piece. Look here, it is dated 1508; it might be the oldest in this gallery."

We were at the private gallery of a certain noblewoman, Ms. Felicia. With me looking at one of the landscape paintings was Mary, a friend from school. We were here on a summer field trip with the National Honor Society, stopping here in Italy while on a tour of Europe. With us were some friends from the trip, Derek and Grace.

"Well, I don't know what you guys see in that painting. It's just a bunch of mountains. Now this one of the BuckinghamPalace – that's impressive. Look at the detail!" Derek pointed out a painting of London.

"You always go for the city-related ones!" Mary commented.

"What can I say? I'm a New Yorker!"

"Yeah, well, which ones do you like, Grace?"

"So much dust…so much bacteria! This place is a minefield!"

"Come on, it's not that bad."

"Hey, studies show that houses over 200 years old have more bacteria colonies than younger ones, and this house is almost 500! Besides, weren't you the one that suggested we not come at all because 'there wouldn't be enough security in a private place'?"

"Yeah, I wasn't exactly expecting coming here, but now I'm sure it's fine. The gallery is in a complete separate wing from the rest of the house...and there are security cameras…of course. Hey Leslie! What's that you're looking at? I thought you didn't like abstract art."

"No, look at this one. It appears that the yellow markings in the painting form characters resembling Egyptian hieroglyphics."

"Really? Let me look at that…well, now that you mention it, they do sort of look like hieroglyphics…"

"Hmmm…turn the head of the eagle's eye."

"…which apparently you can read."

"It seems to make a distinct message. I wonder why it is made out like that."

"I don't know. Guess the artist just decided to say something weird in this one. But…since when could you read hieroglyphics?"

"About five years ago after going on a vacation to Egypt. I became curious as to the language, so I bought some books and learned it. Hey, I wonder if the eagle mentioned in the message is the same one as that sculpture over there. The term 'head' could indicate the top of something, which in this case is the eye of the eagle. The message could be, therefore, an instruction."

"But why should they have a correlation? This is a gallery; it is supposed to have a bunch of random stuff."

"However, it is probable that the placing of the pieces could have been deliberate."

"Hey, we're pretty far behind from the rest of the tour group; we should probably go catch up. Don't you guys agree?"

"Actually, I think the message thing is pretty cool. It's like a big mystery thing. We can catch up later," Derek determined.

"You're not actually going to touch it, are you?" Grace looked warily at the statue of the eagle.

"It wouldn't hurt to try." At this point, my curiosity was most certainly aroused. I turned the upper eyelid of the eagle, finding it to indeed be a moveable part, and to our surprise, a hidden door was suddenly opened in the wall.

"Whoa," Mary stood there in shock. "What just happened?"

"It appears to be that the eagle must have been anchored to the ground, and the eyelid triggered a mechanism to open the door."

"Man, this is awesome!" Derek elated.

"Uh, maybe we should be getting back…" Mary seemed quite nervous.

However, I was already inside. "It appears to be some sort of study," I reasoned, gazing at the bookshelves and the solitary desk with a lamp. "That's conspicuous; the lamp is still on…"

"Yeah…odd…" Mary gave suspicious glances around the room.

"Now you see, _this_ is what I call a feat of engineering. Talk about a private study! No one gets in here. Hey Grace, come in and check this out!"

"Oh no. I'm not taking one step into that dust-mite filled room of bacterial death!"

"Hey, it's perfectly safe!" Derek leaned onto a bookshelf of questionable stability, thereby causing it to fall over, revealing yet another door behind it. "I didn't do it!" he yelped.

"No, look! You seem to have revealed another hidden door. I wonder if it leads to another room…" I reached towards the door.

"Wait, Leslie! Please wait. I really don't think you should go any further. This place isn't…right. Let's just find our group." Mary appeared to be truly scared by this time. I hesitated at the door, unsure as to whether or not I should go. I was not worried myself, but I do not believe I had ever seen Mary this upset before. I did not wish to scare her, but my insatiable curiousity urged me to go further.

"It's alright, Mary. There's nothing to worry about," I tried to reassure her. As I opened the door, though, we were startled to see that there was a man in the room, which seemed to be a library, hastily grabbing papers and cramming them into his satchel. At the sight of us at the door, he ran out of the room and down a hallway.

"Hey!" I yelled, running after him instinctively, as he seemed to be a thief. I soon found out that there was an entire maze of winding, underground hallways in this manor, and this man seemed to know his way down all of them. I started to gain distance to him, but he subsequently spun around and swung his satchel at my head, knocking me to the ground. Before I could regain my senses, he was a long ways gone. Massaging my aching cranial muscles, I looked at the stone floor to see a couple of papers that must have fallen out of the man's satchel upon the impact. They were mostly covered with calculations that appeared to be banking records, but on one there seemed to be a message inscribed. I picked it up and, interestingly enough, found it to be a sort of riddle.

The lightest bird in the hardest ice,

Finds its lover of purest white,

Clothed in what is now,

And no longer was,

To be the last of the first,

And the first of the last,

In a sea of crimson sand,

The bluest Beryl of the

Land to stand.

I must have pondered the riddle all night. It must have been some sort of a clue, but to what destination? Do the words have a figurative or literal meaning? Did the lady of the house, Ms. Felicia, create the riddle, or was it some former resident of the house? Who was the man who tried to take it, and what did he want with it? I felt the need for further information. However, with the group for the trip leaving this morning, I was willing to abstain from the mystery for the time being…until I received the morning news. In a stunning turn of events, Ms. Felicia had gone missing without a trace the previous night, and I felt that the contents of the passage might have a connection with the event. Therefore, I decided to stay. My grandpa just so happened to be near the town at the time, so I could ask him to come for the time being, and perhaps I could ask the others as well. On my way down to the lobby of the hotel to make the call, I ran into Mary, who was looking for me.

"Leslie!" she called. "We need to get going! The bus is about to leave."

"It's okay. I actually have decided to stay here for now."

"What?"

"I could meet up with the group later. My grandpa's ship has stopped in Milan, and since he was going to stay for two weeks anyways I was going to ask if he could come here."

"Okay, Leslie. What's your reason?"

"It's what happened yesterday afternoon, and the fact that Ms. Felicia is missing. Mary, it seems to me that something seriously wrong. Between that man and the riddle… Look, I apologize for what happened. You were right about there being danger, but…"

"I know, I know. You've done this a gazillion times before. I guess mysteries and danger follow you, huh? Just...be careful, okay?"

"Thanks, I will. But first, I got to make a long distance phone call…"


	2. Start the Action: Joni

"Hmm… this has to be the best case this month - A priceless antique watch stolen from a mansion with the best security system around. It seems to be an inside job – but was it? The security cameras capture the exact likeness of the valet of the owner, but the only DNA sample from the crime scene doesn't match him or any of the other servants!"

"Ms. Savage?"

"And what's more, the watch was supposed to be a wedding gift for the owner's daughter, who just so happens to be married next week!"

"*ahem* Ms. Savage?"

"Which means that if anyone wanted revenge on the man or his daughter, now would be the perfect time to—"

"Ms. Savage!"

"Yes?"

"Could you _please_ fetch me a cup of coffee!?"

"Yes," I sighed, frustrated the guy just _had_ to cut me off there. Seriously, that was one exciting case. I had been an intern at the local police station for about a year by now, and it seemed like _nothing_ had changed since the day I came. 'Joni, get me coffee'; 'Joni, get me some McDonalds'; 'Joni, file these papers'; 'Joni, wash my car' – I mean, I'm here to learn what they do, right? But it seems they just can't wait to get me out of the same room as them sometimes! Still, I guess that's just how it is when you're an 'amateur.' I really was just anxious to solve another mystery like we used to – "we" meaning me, Santiago, Leslie, and Owen. The last time something like that went on here in Hawaii was back in January, and that was just me and Santiago. Not that it wasn't great and all…but we've just been kind of busy to go do anything, I guess. Santiago has Robotics Club; Leslie's always doing something with the National Honor Society; Owen competes in skateboarding now; and I got this whole 'intern' thing. Point is, I was definitely ready for something exciting to happen. Then, I got a call on the police department's 'not-911' phone.

"Hello, Gordon County Police Department, how can I help you?"

"Joni? It's me, Leslie."

"Hey Leslie! How's Italy? And why are you calling on the police department's phone?"

"Sorry, I don't have long-distance service on my cellular phone, so it was necessary for me to obtain access to a land line via the hotel's phone. I need a moment's time to speak to you about something that has occurred here."

"No problem, I'm just making coffee for one of the policemen."

"Yes, you see, it concerns the Lady Felicia, the lord of a manor here in Italy. She has been reported missing as of this morning, and I suspect the occurrence to be linked to a robbery I witnessed just yesterday."

"Whoa – what happened yesterday?"

"Well, the honor society was given a tour of the gallery belonging to Felicia, and I seem to have discovered a hidden passageway adjoined to the hall. It led directly to a study which held passage to a library, where I saw the man stealing papers. He escaped through a series of hallways behind the library."

"You know what he took?"

"I have no way of knowing entirely, but he did drop a few of the papers in question, and one of them had a curious riddle inscribed upon it, which might lead to something of value. I could show it to you later, but I must inquire if it would be possible for you to come here to Italy, that we might investigate the matter. I have already spoken to my Grandpa; he would be able to come."

"Are you kidding? Of course I'm coming! I wouldn't want to miss out on this one!"

"That would be superb! Could you ask Santiago and Owen if they could come?"

"Sure thing. Talk to you later!" No sooner had I hung up the phone that an angry policeman came to demand his coffee.

"Ms. Savage, what is taking you so- what were you doing on the department's phone?"

"It was an emergency. Here's your coffee, and any time I have for vacation days I'm taking now."

"Wha- you're an intern! You don't have any 'vacation'!"

"Guess you're right, but either way, I'm going now, for maybe a week – or two. It really depends. By the way, about that watch case…"

"Ms. Savage, please. Leave these kinds of cases to the professionals."

"Sure, but I'm just suggesting the possibility of a full-body costume on this guy. With a wig, some short stilts, and a trench coat of the same brand as the valet's, a costume could easily be made to fool the camera. However, coming out the door the thief could have been met by the guard dog, who knew he was an intruder and attacked him. That would explain the torn bits of clothing by the door which held a DNA other than the valet's, but probably matches that of Julian Bertley, the daughter's ex-boyfriend. Well, gotta go!"

The policeman sighed as she left. _That girl is sure a handful, _he thought. _I don't think I've ever had such an enthusiastic intern before. And to think she did that research on the case on her own accord to get that idea. Hmph, a costume. What an outlandish theory…which might actually make sense._

"Hey Gillis! Bring in that Bertley guy from uptown! I want to do a bit of questioning for the Garrison watch case!"


	3. A New Adventure: Santiago

"Whoa. This has gotta be the best thing, like, in the history of things. It's totally the invention of the future _and_ all time. I can't believe it's actually right here…the Super Mega Rocket-Powered Pizza-Making Turbo Deluxe Skateboard! Of the Future!

"Like it? Sorry it's late."

"You kidding? Best birthday present ever."

"Well, happy birthday, Owen."

"And just wait until you see _my_ birthday present to you! Go ahead, open it up, see? It's a Limited Edition Webster's Expanded Dictionary! Perfect for expanding one's vocabulary!" Laptrap beamed - as much as a robot can, anyways.

"Umm… thanks," Owen accepted the oversized dictionary. We were all in my garage, giving Owen a late 'happy birthday.' I meant for the board to be done before…but I guess between school and robotics, things got kind of busy. You see, Owen had actually been wanting a board/pizza machine for some time now. I always meant to get him one for his birthday, but every time I tried before, I would end up with some cheesy, gooey mess. Now, I finally got a design that actually worked – I guess I've learned a lot more about machines since then. Actually, this summer I was planning on working on a lot of those old projects I started, but that all changed pretty soon.

"Santiago!" my mom called while we were still in the garage. "Es la amiga! Your girlfriend is here!"

"Mom! Not so loud!"

"You totally haven't asked her out yet, have you?"

"I…I'm still thinking about it. I just don't want to mess anything up, and…"

"Hey guys!" Joni burst in through the door, obviously super excited about something.

"Oh, uh, hi Joni!" I fumbled, hoping she didn't hear anything I just said. You see, last January after New Years there was this new mystery going around here in Hawaii involving all these strange earthquakes and missing paintings. Both Owen and Leslie were gone at the time, so it was just me and Joni and, well, we got trapped in this cave and…kind of kissed. But that doesn't mean she actually feels that way…I mean, it could have been the lack of food or oxygen talking. I just don't know what to do, okay? We've been friends for so long…it would just be weird.

"Dude, Joni, what's up?"

"You would not believe this, but Leslie landed a new mystery – a _big_ one. There's this missing noblewoman, a mysterious theft, a riddle, it's all in Italy, and she wants us all to come! Are you in?"

"Dude, totally."

"I don't see why not."

"Whoa, wait!" Laptrap startled. "You mean go to Italy? Now? Are you sure you don't want to just stick around to enjoy the beautiful Hawaiian summer and relax, you know, here?"

"Hey, I've had enough sticking around. Aren't you ready for at least _some_ adventure?"

"But…but…*sigh* fine, you win. But I got a bad feeling about this."

"Awesome! Well, you all better go ahead and ask your parents; our flight leaves in the morning!"

**And that concludes the beginning! Sorry it took a while to upload... Anyhow, I'll go ahead and put a disclaimer on this thing, I do not own Cluefinders, yadda yadda... So, what do _you_ think the riddle is about? More clues are coming soon, so stay tuned!**


End file.
